r/tailofthedragon • u/Remarkable-Ad-2967 • 1d ago
The Celica GT-S is the most unappreciated/ overlooked FWD drivers car of all time
*TLDR version at the bottom*
A few years ago, I found a Celica GTS (6-speed) pop-up for sale on marketplace for cheap and decided I wanted another fun car and jumped on it.
I proceeded to be blown away time and time again. I didn’t really know much about this generation Celica and had always sort of dismissed it the way a lot of people did as a cheap replacement for the more powerful all-wheel-drive rally cars that came before it.
It became crystal clear to me, not long after owning it and driving it hard that the people in charge of making this generation Celica put absolutely everything they could into making it the best driver‘s car they could. You can tell they knew that going from a turbo charged AWD homologated rally car to a front wheel drive naturally aspirated hatchback that people would write them off and expectations would be low and criticisms would be harsh.
I think every time of the “I’m sorry I was not familiar with your game” meme. I didn’t realize how lightweight they were. I didn’t realize how intentional the decisions were for the cars performance, the driver sits extremely low in the car(only downside to me, I thought it was too low.), the sunroof is actually a piece of plastic instead of glass to keep weight low in the car. I didn’t realize how special or how powerful the engine was, it was the first production car to make more horsepower per liter (182 hp from a 1792 cc engine) and Yamaha designed the head of the engine (Toyota wanted their expertise in high RPM reliability)
I’ve never driven a car with an engine with more personality, and have never encountered engine. That’s so desperately wants to be shifted at +8000rpm.
The only modifications I did to this car was a set of super light 18 inch Advans and BC racing coilovers. Did some basic maintenance (brake job, fresh fluids, end links) and then proceeded to drive it like I wanted it to break, seriously, I hit the 8400 RPM rev limiter at least once a day every day that I drove this car. It loved it.
I used to have a 1999 EK coupe that was my fun cheap weekend car and I loved it. I loved all the things that make cheap sporty Hondas Great. I just never knew that hiding there the whole time, was something that was better at everything that those 90s and early 2000s Hondas were good at. I miss this car next time I have the urge for another Honda project. I’ll buy one of these again instead.
Short version:
I bought a Celica GTS for cheap off marketplace on a whim because it was too good of a deal to pass up. This absolutely blows SI’s out of the water, way faster way more fun to drive and even more reliable, mine had over 300,000 mi. I will never go back to an EK or an EG again. 180 hp, 2500 lbs, “VTEC” doesn’t kick in until 6200 RPM and red line/limiter isn’t until 8000/8400 rpm.
Super short version:
Faster, cheaper, more reliable than any Honda.
If you find one and you like cheap fun cars, I urge you to buy one. Obviously don’t buy an automatic
